


Yesterday

by Syphus



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29452221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syphus/pseuds/Syphus
Summary: Sykkuno couldn't remember how the argument started. Maybe it was a forgotten appointment or a poorly timed joke. But now, he and Corpse would be driving halfway across the country together.And he had no idea how to fix this.
Relationships: Corpse Husband & Sykkuno (Video Blogging RPF), Corpse Husband/Sykkuno (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 235
Collections: Server Event: Valentines 2021





	Yesterday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThatHotStuff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatHotStuff/gifts).



> Happy Valentine's Day, my love! I hope you enjoy this <3
> 
> Title from Yesterday by The Beatles

**Los Angeles, CA to Phoenix, AZ**

The car door slammed shut and Sykkuno jumped in surprise. He took a moment to breathe and relax his grip on the boxes in his hands. He huffed as he dropped them into the cargo trailer, brushing off his shirt as he stepped back. The rented trailer now held his entire life. Computer set up, mattress, clothes, memories. Sykkuno hadn’t realized just how much he had until it was time to drag it across the country. The metal creaked as he pulled the door closed, locking away his life for the next four days.

Corpse sat in the driver’s seat with his arms crossed and a dark look in his eyes. His mask was on, this one black with neon green teeth. Sykkuno picked at his cuticles as he stared at the man through the car windows. Four days. They could get through this. Arguments happened to everyone. This one just felt more important because it was happening to them, not just anyone.

He took one last look at his family’s home. He’d already said goodbye to his sister and parents, and he’d seen his grandmother the day before, so there was nothing left for him here. The warm autumn morning dragged a breeze through the air and dying grass rustled at his feet. Sykkuno took a deep breath and nodded to himself. Everything would be okay.

As he climbed into the passenger seat, Corpse started the car.

“You got everything?”

“Yup! If I forgot something, I’ll just ask my parents to mail it. Did you check the trailer attachment already?”

“Yeah, double checked. We should be good.” He pulled the car out of the driveway and the trailer followed along, slow but smooth. “See?”

Sykkuno turned and smiled at him. “I didn’t doubt you for a second, Corpse!”

His hands ran down the steering wheel. “Right.” He clipped. “Of course not.”

L.A.’s palm trees slipped past them as they drove. Leaves waved goodbye as the sun rose in the sky to herald their journey. Music filled the car in absence of voices and Sykkuno stared out the window. It wasn’t just four days. It was an entire lifetime. Fear wrapped around his heart as Corpse turned up the volume.

Corpse had rented out the motels a few days before the trip. The Super 8 in Phoenix, Arizona had a dozen rooms and a tiny pool in the middle of the parking lot. The lady at the front office greeted them with a generic smile and two key cards.

“Two queens for one night. Check out’s at ten, but the office opens at five. Wifi password’s in the room. Anything else I can do for you?”

“No, thank you.” Corpse took the key cards and passed one to Sykkuno.

“Wait, two queens?”

“Is that okay?” Corpse slipped the card into his wallet.

“It’s fine. I’m hungry though.” They turned and walked out of the office into the dying Phoenix heat.

“I’ll come with you to find something.”

“You won’t eat?”

Corpse took the passenger side of the car. “Nah. Maybe if I see something good.”

Sykkuno nodded and pulled up a map on his phone. “I’ll be quick. Let me know if you change your mind.”

He stared up at the beige popcorn ceiling. Stiff sheets scratched at his skin despite the silk pajamas warding him. The air conditioner under the window chugged in an effort to relieve the room of its oppressive heat, but it only served to circulate nicotine-tinted air from one end to another.

Sykkuno could hear Corpse shifting nearby. A chasm of empty space and needle felt carpet stretched between their beds. He turned his head to the side to watch the other man’s breaths rise slow and soft.

“You’re still awake,” Corpse whispered.

“We have a long drive tomorrow.”

“Six hours isn’t too much.” He rolled onto his shoulder to face Sykkuno. “Did you want to start?”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I’ll sleep then.”

“Good night.”

“I- good night.” Sykkuno closed his eyes to stop himself from staring down the expanding ravine. He didn’t know how to fly. He didn’t know where to start learning.

* * *

**Phoenix, AZ to El Paso, TX**

Dry desert stretched to the horizons, empty as the sky above it. The highway led them south toward Texas and their tires ate away at the miles. Corpse flipped through the paper atlas in his lap. Their route was highlighted in bright pink and the destination starred with a smiley face next to it. Blue hearts marked gas stations and rest stops, courtesy of Sykkuno’s research. Corpse glanced at the man to his left.

Sykkuno had been driving for nearly three hours now. He’d switched from his music to an audiobook about the history of coffee to an AM radio station that buzzed with static. The stereo was now turned down low with an old Beatles CD accompanying the desert’s monotonous tones.

“There’s a gas station up ahead,” Corpse tapped the atlas. “We can switch there.”

“I can’t see the map. You’ll have to tell me where to go.”

“I know that, I’ll tell you when to turn.”

Sykkuno tilted his head and the bones in his neck popped and crackled in response. “Just make sure you tell me early or I’ll miss it.”

“I know, I will.”

On their left, a single gnarled tree stretched up and out of the sands toward the powder blue sky. Its leafless branches sprawled and weaved like L.A.’s urban streets.

“Turn here.”

Sykkuno drove past the intersection.

“I said-”

“I heard what you said, Corpse. Did you hear me?”

“Just turn around,” Corpse sighed.

“When I asked you to tell me sooner so I wouldn’t miss the turn?”

“It’s only a mile back.”

“Did you listen?” Sykkuno didn’t slow the car.

“Yes, I did.”

“And yet the turn is a mile back. Something tells me you didn’t listen.”

“Okay, so I didn’t. Or I forgot. I’m sorry.” Corpse shut the atlas and tossed it in the backseat.

“Sorry doesn’t rewind time, Corpse.”

“If you don’t go back, we’ll never get there.”

The car slowed and pulled into a turn lane. Sykkuno flicked the turn signal on.

“You said a mile back?”

“Yeah.”

Corpse stared down the aisles of cheap snacks and sugar drinks. The gas station was a game of I-Spy, each shelf a kaleidoscope of labels and price tags. He could spend hours reading every package to decide on flavor and texture and cost-to-satisfaction ratio. Thankfully, he only had a few minutes to find his holy grail. And a chocolate bar if they had those.

The cashier took a solid moment to reboot before ringing up his purchases.

“Have a good one.” They slumped against the counter as Corpse walked out the door.

Sykkuno was twisting the fuel cap shut as Corpse joined him in the dry noon heat.

He held out a packaged snack.

“You got me gummy bears?”

“And an iced coffee. Caramel flavored.”

Sykkuno took the gold bag in his hands and looked down at it. “I like caramel.”

“I know.”

“I like gummy bears.”

“I’ll drive now. You can borrow my pillow.”

Sykkuno lifted his head and smiled. “That sounds nice.”

* * *

**El Paso, TX to Odessa, TX**

They were halfway to Odessa and ten miles from the nearest gas station when the inevitable happened. Corpse was driving with the windows rolled down to let wind whip through his black curls and temper the stifling Texas heat. Sykkuno had his feet pulled up on his seat and his head on his knees. Corpse couldn’t tell if the man was asleep, but he’d been in that position for the better part of an hour and it couldn’t be good for his neck.

A loud pop rattled the car and Corpse swerved to recover.

The tire pressure alarm dinged, and he could hear one of the wheels dragging. He sighed and pulled over to the side of the highway, parking and turning the car off. Sykkuno lifted his head and wiped his eyes as Corpse opened the door.

“Corpse? Where are we?”

“Middle of nowhere, Sy. You can stay inside.” The passenger door opened as Corpse shut his.

He stepped toward the back of the car to inspect the offending wheel. The tire was completely flat and steaming from the melted rubber. The car was leaned to one side which jacked up the attached trailer. Sykkuno joined him to stare at it.

“Huh. You uh… wouldn’t happen to know how to fix this, would you?”

Corpse shrugged. “Hundreds of late-night hours spent in the trenches of YouTube have prepared me for this moment. I got this.”

The midday heat boiled the highway and Corpse was regretting his choice of black clothing despite it being his entire wardrobe. It had been almost a half hour of him attempting to change the tire. No other cars had stopped to help and their phones had no signal. He’d managed to get the car lifted but the wheel kept spinning when he tried to twist the bolts. Sykkuno sat on the ground next to him with his chin in his hand and sweat pouring down his face.

“I don’t think this is working.”

“Any other ideas?” Corpse grunted as his hands slipped on the wrench.

“What if we’re stuck out here? We don’t have any water. Why didn’t we bring any?”

“We’ll buy some at the next station.”

“We’re never going to get there!” Sykkuno’s voice raised in pitch and he shoved his hands into his hair. “This is pointless. Why are we even trying at this point?”

Corpse dropped the wrench on the ground with a clang and straightened. He stared down at the man sitting on the side of the desert road. Heat hummed under his skin and he could feel his face redden with sunburn and anger.

“What are you talking about?”

Sykkuno looked up in surprise. “What?”

“When you said this is pointless. Are you talking about the car?”

“The car, yeah, I’m talking about the car.”

“Not just the car.”

“Not just the car, no.”

Corpse held out a hand and Sykkuno took it. He pulled the man up to his feet and they stood there under the sun’s baleful gaze. Their breaths mingled with the tension.

“Why are we dragging this out?”

“I don’t remember how it even started,” Sykkuno rasped. Their shared handhold tightened. “Isn’t that stupid?”

“It’s not stupid. We just don’t know how to do this yet.”

“How to argue?”

“Communicate.”

“Oh.” Sykkuno tightened his grip. “I don’t know where to start.”

Corpse closed his eyes and nodded. “Okay, okay. Uh… what makes you mad?”

“When you don’t listen. When you forget things that seem easy. When it feels like I’m not a priority.” He took a deep breath and held it in for a long moment.

“I’m sorry.”

Sykkuno huffed. “Don’t be. It’s my fault for getting mad at dumb things.”

“Having emotions isn’t a bad thing, Sy. It’s just how we deal with them that matters.”

A cargo truck roared past them and the passing wind buffeted their clothes.

“Where’d you learn that one?”

“Therapy. And YouTube.”

Sykkuno giggled and looked at the flat tire next to them. “You don’t have a great track record with YouTube, but I think I can trust your therapist.”

Corpse stepped back from the other man to reach down and pick up the wrench. The metal burnt his palm, but he gripped it tight. “I can try again. If it doesn’t work, we’ll hitchhike.”

“What makes you mad?”

Corpse separated their hands and crouched in front of the tire.

“Don’t do that.”

“I don’t get mad at you.” He slipped the wrench onto a bolt.

“Don’t pretend like you can’t feel. It’ll make it real.”

“I’m not.”

“You are, though!” Another car swept passed them, drowning out his words. “You won’t talk about it, you won’t talk to _me._ How can I know what you’re feeling if you won’t just say it?”

The wheel spun as he twisted, taking the wrench with it, and Corpse slammed his hand against the rubber to stop it. “I’m not _mad_ at you, I’m just scared!” His voice cracked and he stood back up. “I’m just… I’m so, _so_ terrified that one day I’m going to wake up and you won’t love me anymore.”

He kicked the tire and choked on the desert air in his lungs.

“Corpse…” Their hands joined again. Metal clinked as their fingers clasped together.

“Or worse. I’m terrified that one day, I won’t love you anymore.”

“You chose me though, right?” He lifted their hands. “And I chose you. That doesn’t just go away in a day.”

“But it happens all the time.”

“It happens when people stop choosing.”

“It isn’t that easy.”

“The best choices rarely are.”

Sykkuno let their hands fall apart. He stepped away and grabbed the wrench from where it fell.

“I’ll twist the wrench while you hold the tire.”

“Just like that, huh?”

“Just like that.”

* * *

**Odessa, TX to Marble Falls, TX**

The sun rose over the eastern horizon, bringing with it a light rain and hazy clouds. Sykkuno took to driving for the last leg of their journey. He was humming along to the radio station and, although he wasn’t smiling, Corpse thought the man was beautiful. He didn’t need a smile to be perfect.

The final hours of their drive went by quickly. Desert turned to stubbled forests and eventually, the crossing of the Colorado River. The waters rippled beneath the bridge and Corpse pulled out his phone to take a picture.

A sign greeted them as they arrived at their destination.

Marble Falls, Texas.

Sykkuno flicked on the blinker and pulled into a sprawling neighborhood. A group of kids picked up their toys from the middle of the road and moved to the sidewalk, giggling and pushing each other on the way. One home stood short and stout on a street corner. It had half a dozen windows and pastel green paint lined with a fine white trim. Sykkuno parked the car in the driveway and leaned back in his seat.

“We made it!” He cheered.

“I didn’t doubt you for a second.”

They got out of the car and Corpse circled around the front to join him as rain fell around them. Sy lifted his keys and smiled. “Ready to move into our first home together?”

Corpse raised a brow. “I hope if I wasn’t ready, I would’ve told you that before we drove halfway across the country.”

“Nothing wrong with a change of heart.” Sykkuno held the keys out. “Will you do the honors?”

“Gladly, if you’ll go with me.”

“With you? I’d go anywhere.”


End file.
